My first paying job was at a used bookstore called Bookworm. I didn't even have to apply, my aunt called me and asked if I was interested. At the time I was in Channel Cats (year-round swimming) and karate as well as in my high school symphony! It was a lot. The day I went in for an interview was the FIRST time I drove by myself!!! I accidentally popped the hood instead of releasing the E-brake and my friends saw!!! They got a laugh out of that :) I got the job a week later!!! and my wisdom teeth taken out at the time too so I was doped up on some pain killers my first day. My Aunt Wanda also worked with me along with Megan and Crystal (those are the only two I can remember working with me at the time besides the Owner). My aunt and I RARELY saw each other outside of family gatherings and now we worked together!!! Together she and I dominated at filing books and cleaning up the place, even on the busy Saturdays where everyone brought in their trashy books and we had to lug them to a different location since we didn't want them. What a pain that was! I enjoyed almost every minute of that job! Until the very end when things got hostile and not one, not two, not three but FOUR people quit!!! Aunt Wanda, Megan, Kelsey and I all quit around the same time! Haha the owner gave us such a headache everyday that we gave her one when all of Richland left!
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| I started doodling in one of my classes and drew this :) It hung on the wall until we all left. It's now in my apartment! (the "used children" sign was a real sign and it always made us giggle because of the connotation!) |
Besides the ending,I enjoyed every breakfast I had at the "worm" with the girls. We also went to Ice Harbor alot too and sometimes P.F. Chang's! Afterwards we always would hit up DQ and almost get kicked out because we were laughing SO HARD!!! One time we were coming home from Ice Harbor and since I was the only one underage and that knew how to drive a minivan plus I would NEVER drink, I was the designated driver! Ummmm...well lets just say that there were people flying everywhere...even though they were buckled up. And I was not going though the round about that fast and it wasn't MY FAULT that Megan buckled her sweater into the buckle and was all tangled! :) The worse Ice Harbor trip is a tie between the one where I got sick that night with the Swine Flu but had to open the store (for the first time) by myself with someone I don't usually work with and the time where Megan accidentally slammed my almost healed broken finger in the door. Yea, it wasn't so much "almost healed" after that!
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| Halloween 2009! In jammies all day and yes, I do have feet but my pants are generally ALWAYS too big for me and you can't see them! |
I worked with my aunt alot, for awhile they didn't allow the Asians to work together :) but since we dominated at it so much every other Saturday we worked together! When we balanced the till and it was perfect we put a star on the calendar and then it was "Asian Power" or "Irish girls are better" or something that the two working that night had in common! That calendar was a mess! We also played jokes on each other like when we weren't allowed to file the romantic section since that was my aunt's section so Kelsey and I and Megan put a ton of kids, general fiction, mystery, sci-fi, non-fiction and romance books from overstock on the cupboard so that night when my aunt came in she thought it was ALL her romance to be filed :) It wasn't haha! I was able to form a "more than niece and aunt" relationship with my aunt! Instead of just the aunt that she is to me she is also one of my best friends! It was a bittersweet moment when I had to say goodbye to her before I left for college. I constantly text her and call her and write to her-although those letters are piling up on my desk and becoming outdated lol. My aunt was there for me at graduation and remembered my birthday this year! She also (often) brought me my favorite treats to school! Tuxedo brownie cups AND my wraps which I could eat like four of!
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| Me in my Bookworm Shirt! Plus with my baby kitties-there are 3 of them! |
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| At my graduation party! |
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| My aunt, me and Megan at my graduation party! |
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| Them terrorizing the baby! |
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| At graduation after I got my gold chain! |
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| Megan and I |
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| I love you aunt Wanda...and I miss you too! |
